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Long-Term Memory Working Memory A Human Information Processing Model after Wickens (1984) Short-Term Sensory Store PerceptionDecision Making Response Execution Feedback Attentional Resources Attentional Resources

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Attentional Resources General DEFINITION: Applying ones mind to something, mental concentration, awareness (Oxford American Dictionary). Concept becomes necessary because we do not process all stimuli that impinge upon us. e.g. the cocktail party phenomenon: Listen only to your conversation e.g. Hearing your name in an adjacent conversation suggests some pre-attentive processing.

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Attentional Resources General - 2 Relevant aspects: It is limited. Selective Attention: selecting to process some stimuli and not others. Focused Attention: the ability to, once stimulus is selected, to process that stimulus and not others. Divided Attention: the ability to process two more more inputs at a time. Metaphor of the flashlight.

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Count the passes by the people in the white t-shirts

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A fun version

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Whats the point What do these videos tell us about attention?

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Attentional Resources Selective DEFINITION: The ability to pick one source of information to process (attend) over other sources. This is the hand that guides the search light. Information is conceived as coming in from the world in channels. A channel is a potential source of information. Vision vs. audition are channels; within vision or audition, different locations may be different channels, e.g., different dials on dash board. Can be demonstrated in shadowing.

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Attentional Resources Selective - 2 Selective Attention and Multiple Sources Since cannot attend to all at once, must sample. Sample source with more event more frequently but P(event)>P(sample). Thus for source with rare events: P(event)

Decision Making Estimation Estimation of the Mean: E.g., estimating average speed with a fluctuating speedometer We are not real accurate, but we are not biased. Estimation of Proportions and Probability: e.g., estimating how often something happens. Estimation of extreme proportions, >.90 or